Paul Williams (Balliol 1995) wins NERC Impact Award prize

Balliol College Oxford | Monday 21 January

Following shortlisting for the NERC Impact Awards in November, Professor Paul Williams (Balliol 1995) was awarded the £5,000 runner-up prize in the Societal Impact category.

The awards recognise NERC-funded researchers whose work has had substantial impact on the economy and society either in the UK or abroad. Paul, who is Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, won the prize for his work on predicating air turbulence and its effect on making flying smoother and safer, as he explains in the video below.

Working with US scientists Professor John Knox, University of Georgia and Don McCann, McCann Aviation Weather Research Inc, he has developed an algorithm to predict in-flight turbulence. Following breakthroughs in 2008 and 2012, their algorithm has been used by the US National Weather Service to create turbulence forecasts since 2015, improving the safety of air travel for up to 2.5 billion passenger journeys so far, and also helping to make flying greener by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

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